For weeks, all that many people at the University of Illinois Urbana campus had heard from Steven Salaita were the controversial comments he had Tweeted about Israel over the summer --- comments that cost him his U of I faculty appointment. But Salaita broke his silence Tuesday, at a news conference where he said he would fight for reinstatement.

President Obama is set to meet congressional leaders this afternoon to outline his strategy for confronting the Islamic State insurgency in Iraq and Syria. He is scheduled to address the nation on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. to make that strategy public.

Penn State football got out from under the most severe on-field sanctions imposed on it two years ago over the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal, learning Monday that the NCAA will allow it to compete in this year's postseason and that all scholarships will return in 2015.

Steven Salaita, whose faculty appointment to the University of Illinois was cancelled amid controversy over social media messages about Israel, will speak on the Urbana campus for the first time since his faculty appointment was withdrawn.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan on Monday said she will fight for new legislation that would let nursing home residents and their families have video or audio recording devices in their rooms to monitor patient treatment.

After failing to get on the November ballot, the Green Party's candidates for Governor and Secretary of State say they will launch a write-in campaign in this fall's election. That comes less than a decade after the Illinois Greens pulled in enough votes to reach "major party status" in Illinois.